Mark Sanford Wins House Seat

Mark Sanford will once again hike the Appalachian Trail to Congress.

Disgraced ex-South Carolina governor Mark Sanford won his bid for redemption on Tuesday night, defeating Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch for his old seat in Congress. Sanford, a Republican who admitted an extramarital affair in 2009, was ready to quit politics for good if he was not victorious in South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. He will replace Republican Tim Scott, who was appointed to the Senate.

The former governor — once a rising GOP star considered presidential material — was an early favorite in the Republican district, which Mitt Romney carried by 18 percentage points in the 2012 election. But the revelation that Sanford's ex-wife, Jenny, accused the candidate of trespassing at her home caused the National Republican Congressional Committee to withdraw its support in mid-April and gave Colbert Busch an opening.